career of mitch mcconnell in his book. plus, your e-mail and phone calls. "washington journal" is next. host: good morning. a scene that is part of the tradition at arlington national cemetery, the morning changing of the guards at the tomb of the unknowns. tuesday, marking another in russia, germany's invasion into poland that began world war ii that took place 60 years ago. we will begin this morning with the return of president obama back to the white house to talk about what he is facing. the comments from the reporter in "the washington post" calling it a scary season for president obama.

we will show you this opposite from the paper this morning. david says that he hopes president obama and his family enjoyed their vacation on martha's vineyard because what he faces on his return is sheer hell. further into the body of the peace, he says with congressional democrats increasingly divided between moderates nervous about the cost and liberals adamant that it not be compromised, it will take a major push to get this effort back on track. but the coming weeks will also

find of the more than destructive by growing towns is in iraq, and r iran and afghanistan. let me read you part of what this writer says. six months into the presidency, conservatives and republicans have occasion for some good cheer. he says the most heartening development so far this year is the impressive behavior of conservatives and republicans who have been principal by opposing obama and advancing their own agenda in a sensible way to find new and fresh fodder. is this a scary season for obama? congress will be back in session next week. the first up is fred from new jersey on the republican line. caller: the problem for the

president is that he is following the liberal agenda set forth by liberals in his party like ted kennedy -- and want to say anything bad about him since he died, but the beliefs of these people is that you tax the middle class into oblivion so that you pay for programs for the poor. the country goes bankrupt. rich people like ted kennedy who had five funded million dollars in his estate when he died -- if he is so concerned about the poor what did he give away all his money to them? the rich people like him stay on top with all their money. obama will bankrupt the country. the only way he can survive politically is to stop spending all this money, taxing the middle class. host: we will go to carl in miami on the line for democrats. caller: on that node i beg to

differ -- on that note. i disagree for the simple reason that this country has not been so nice to many of us. now, i am black. another history a little better than the gentleman who called earlier. he is not so nice. we thank god for a family like the kennedys because what has come into fruition has been four thinks -- we have a black president, we had a black governor -- these are initiatives of a good family that god uses. see, we think we're got and have more power than guide. hear this from people who are negative, people who think they really know god, but one good thing is that along with being liberal is that you to whom much is given, much is required. now in the bible all those who

are blessed are supposed to give and help. host: mm-hmm. caller: in the jewish religion, the favorites of god, those who gave gave, those were blessed blessed. the remnant of those who are supposed to keep it in carrying it on, so we find a remnant in the kennedy family. host: thanks for the call. more opinion from inside "the washington post." only gerald ford and bill clinton have had worse ratings after seven months then president obama has. his economic policies are now recruiting jobs. his energy tax is unlikely to pass the senate. there is an overwhelming rejection of his spending policies -- this is from speaker gingrich.

still, obama's left wing advisers want him to undertake a revolutionary act ramming through massive change for 17% of the economy. meanwhile, donna brazile also has her point of view. he must convince the deficit- weary voters that the reform will not send taxes soaring. the question, from david broder, is this a scary season for obama? good morning, from pennsylvania. caller: signing statements, rendition, or tim geithner, larry summers, drag deals --

drug deals -- you'd think we're talking about the bush administration, but it is the obama administration. the left or center are very upset with him. like the jewish war criminal fighter, he said to choose a side and i think it is time for obama to choose a side whether it is a scary sight and not. if he does not get on the sticky will be the shortest term president we have had, even shorter than carter because people are losing faith in him already. he needs to stand up and take lessons from howard dean talking about health care. dean does a tremendous job presenting facts, this bill and the craziness by the right and the republicans about the myths they're putting out a. host: the sermon is here in washington and boston, the front

page of most papers in this scene from arlington national cemetery, senator kennedy laid to rest as the sun was setting. next with this piece, the u.s. says pakistan altered missiles sold for defense. the u.s. has accused pakistan of illegally modifying american- made missiles to expand its capability to strike land targets. that is a potential threat to india, according to senior administration and congressional officials.

meanwhile, there is a related store this morning on the front page of "the washington post," with this headline -- the u.s. says metrics to assess or success. -- war success.

back to your calls come stan from oklahoma, is this the scary season for obama? caller: yes, it is. i think there is much to begin. as much as i was impressed with the personal tributes to senator kennedy yesterday from his family, particularly, i think there is something unseemly about the emphasis on health care bill. i know that he passionately wants to get something approved, but there is much work to be done. we cannot ignore the fact that the majority of american people do not approve of the health plan as it is now. host: let me read you something based on the republican radio address from a mike enzi. this is in both the washington

post and the new york times. a republican member of the senate's gang of six healthcare negotiators sharply criticized democratic support reform plan saturday, making the climb to a bipartisan deal when congress returns next week appear even steeper. in his republican weekly address and his internet address, senator enzi said the democrats' health care proposals will actually make our nation's finances occur without saving money. he has been ensconced in weeks for intensive talks over health- care reform. he and his two fellow republican negotiators represent the best chance for bipartisan compromise. let me return to you, stan. caller: perhaps something needs to be done about the plans to improve them, but we have so

much financial baggage to carry from other things done during president obama's short-term so far, i think there's much yet to begin. i congratulate the senators who are working on tried to improve the bill, but it contains a lot of language that is scary to most american people, according to the polls. i think some things said in the funeral of senator kennedy seemed unseemly and inappropriate to -- from the grave influence the legislation. i know that was his desire and have a feeling that senator kennedy wrote a lot of things about what he wanted to transpire yesterday as a last

ditch effort to improve the polls. it probably will was, some was but we cannot lose sight of the fact that the american people and our grandchildren as well as senator kennedy's grandchildren will pay through though nose for some of these things being done, not the least of which is the healthcare bill and what it indicates. i hope that we continue to get off work done by republicans, democrats, and independents in the congress because they need to pay attention to the american public. host: very early in california, this tweet. not to blame the federal government for not doing their job, says ,viewer. -- says this viewer.

health care, by the way come the subject of the program over the next couple of days as we take you live to arlington, va. to the hospital center. we will begin a conversation with the chief cardiologist there. here is a preview. >> what is the longest you have ever been on your feet in the operating room? >> probably a little over 24 hours. doing a patient who had torn their aorta, the big artery that comes from the heart. i was working with one of my partners and it took -- the patient bled we could not stop the bleeding. i think there had been one of is there, not together, we might have stopped, but we were there together. the nurses still talk about it because the shifts changed but

we did not. the talk about us both sitting on little stools read by the operating table, dozing off, waiting for this patient -- we would not give up. the patient eventually stopped bleeding and walked out of the hospital and was well. host: the full interview with that doctor tonight at 8:00 p.m. eastern and tomorrow, tuesday, and wednesday will take you live inside the va hospital center. our goal is to take a step back from the politics of the health care debate and look more at how hospital run, and some of the challenges facing the it industry's through the prism of this one hospital in northern virginia. jerome is joining us from georgia.

caller: good morning, i feel that the reason obama's polls are so low right now and has been so much hysteria concerning health care is this this is the divide by the republicans and right wing. they have never liked obama from the beginning and have tried to sabotages administration and goals. we need health care. host: let me return to the peace where he says the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff has confirmed that the struggle with the taliban and al qaeda is going badly. obama's new commander, general stamina christo, is likely to us for even more reinforcements. the war which once commanded broad support, is increasingly unpopular. -- general stanley crystal --

mcchrystal. good morning come caller. caller: i just returned from the u.k. and people there like their system for the most part. higher taxes may be involved, i do not know, but we have to think about this. as the other fellows said, they apparently want the white, conservative republicans want obama to failed. now, if bush had cared for his people he would have tried to get health care for all. it would of forgot about the war in iraq which is the biggest mistake this country has ever made -- he would have forgotten about that war. let me read one short paragraph from a book i got in the uk called "washington's war" which says that the americans are making the mistakes the british

made in 1755. in 2003 bush's war, and it was just his war or ideology, they entered iraq and the belief that the iraqi people would welcome them and found themselves fighting a widespread, popular insurrection within army trained for conventional warfare. what george washington did -- why he won is that he achieved the war, getting better independence by avoiding the conventional battle of which the british exceled and instead of waging an insurgency campaign of ambush an indirect attack. so, the whole system of how they're fighting the war in iraq is wrong. the war was the wrong more than wrong time. host: thank you for that call from texas.

here's another message from twitter. after four days of ceremonies honoring senator ted kennedy, if you're interested in watching any of the events you can log on to our website, c-span.org. there is a look at some headlines from around the country. there is a picture of patrick kennedy and ted kennedy, jr. embracing at their father's casket at the church in boston. also from denver, teddy kennedy kisses the casket of his father. from out west, the orange county register, the lion at rest. good morning. caller: it is a scary season for him because number one he does

not write his own bill. this is not only on the healthcare bill, but he has not done that on cap and trade or the stimulus. he does not monitored the bills carefully. my second thing is, in the basic stimulus package there is $1.1 billion going to research. they refuse to tell us what it means. it is going to be similar to what they have in the u.k. and canada. i have gone to the recovery act and researched this. when we send in our medical records they will develop comparative research to see which is the most effective treatment, which is not bad. but they also have the mandate of cost control. the american college of physicians wrote a letter to say

they should go slow with this. that cost control dealing with the effectiveness of our program is extremely controversial. they prefer their way to include this element. in the u.k. they have twice the risk of death from breast cancer as here. host: we will look at both the u.k. system next month here on the show and at the bottom of the hour we'll take a look closely at how the canadian system works. this week and it's website, and a look at what is next for conservatives and the right. this is from "the new york daily news" -- an iraqi journalist jailed for hurling his shoes of former president george bush is getting the boot from jail. he was released -- will be released next month after his sentence was reduced for good behavior. it turned the 30-year-old

reporter into a folky row across the urban world -- into a folk hero. next, a call from lilies in philadelphia on the line for democrats. caller: good morning. -- from louise. caller: i have not read the article, but i think it is scary for mr. obama because he's young, black, bringing radical and different ideas to america -- and i'm a middle-aged american woman. host: let me repeat the first sentence. what the writer says is that he sure helps the president obama and his family enjoyed their vacation on martha's vineyard because what he faces on his return to washington in sheer hell. caller: well, i would imagine so because the people who are doing most of the complaining tend to be older, white.

they are people who want to live in the prosperity of the 1980's. it was like this when i get out of the war type of situation -- i think it is scary because we americans are dumbed down by reality shows. despite the ease of education people do not tend to be educated about what is going on. the scary thing to me is that no one is talking about the war. no one is angry about the war. i think the war is what has made things so scary for mr. obama because he is fishtailing off of the war. host: those of the two stores from the papers a about relationships with pakistan, and

iran, and afghanistan. here concerning the health debate, where most of this money goes is unclear. also, a look at louisiana. the authority deals with rivers and dikes and the preparation for any type of disaster. he will join us tomorrow in our 9:30 a.m. segment time. it says that doctors and nurses were overstretched. patients were dying and the evacuation of many seem impossible. it says that injecting drugs was one answer some medicals decided on. charles and joins us from virginia.

caller: good morning. thank you. the thing that obama is definitely facing a scary time in history. number one, if he wants is to be willing to take on his health care he should be willing to put the senate, congress, and himself and administration on it to to show their support in what they're doing -- put them on it too. secondly, in order to get our help and support should bring jobs back from overseas, and the third point -- to get rid of a large drain on our economy from the illegal aliens in the area. thank you for letting me say these things. host: we are glad to hear from you. here is a message from twitter.

here is an editorial this morning from a paper on what they call the white house control of the internet. one of points is that while the president created a saw everczar to oversee responsibilities, the

position was not given the power needed to assure effectiveness -- while he created a cyber czar. john joins is from cape cod, mass. on the republican line. caller: yes, i have a bunch of like to get in real quick. thank you for c-span. this has been a very good morning. i'm listening to everybody. if everybody is listening to what is going on here, everybody has the right thing to say. we just cannot all say are a little piece together to make this cannot write. similar to our government tried to get a bill through. i had to go to the hospital for a cut in my our monday. i have had insurance but dropped it. i was helping my mother would get a job.

i was thinking would be a $700 bill or so, but it was $1,400. we worked out a deal and got it down to $1,100, and made payments and that it paid off. i wanted to pay because i had the insurance, drop it. in this case i talked to some friends. i know people who went into the same thing the city could never pay. and they did not. of course, someone has to bail that -- they went to the same thing and said they could never pay for it, but someone has to pay for it. i'm not howard dean fan, but if people up there could watch that virginia town hall, that was the first time the man had ever really, across to me as being genuine and one in to help the people out. host: are you talking about the one with congressman jim moran? caller: exactly, and the thing about this we should be civil

like? -- like that. we need somebody who will get in there and tell everyone the truth. that panel's and all this -- i'm republican and i was appalled. i'm not that stupid. the mother is 85 and has been in and out of the hospital three or four times this year. nothing is free with her aging, but with medicare and all that we have done well, you know? but this is just ridiculous. everybody should pay attention to what people say. everyone has a little point in there that is good. host: we're appreciative. we also have this tweet. you talk about health care and we have compiled all the bands from the town hall meetings and events and will continue to do

so -- we have compiled all of events. congress will return next week. you can look at the town hall meetings -- is all there on the site. from this section of "the washington post" -- we have the hope, now where's the audacity? ted kennedy past liberal torch to a bomb. let's run with it, says this paper. a final point from this writer on the editorial page calling it a scary season for obama -- he points out that with congressional democrats increasingly divided it will take a major presidential push to get the health care effort back on track. we're joined from los angeles, good morning. caller: i would say that it is scary for but party.

for democrats is scary because in both 2000 scary -- it is scary for both parties. -- for democrats it is scary because they tried it in the previous two terms to get moderate democrats to run in both areas where there was dissension against president bush and that strategy succeeded. but i do not think they thought all the way through to the policy implications. the democratic party would have to govern in such a way that these who had run under the democratic label would go ahead and have to be included in the decision making process. democrats did not really understand that, i think. the liberal part of the party is having some fits about this. on the republican side, i think it is scary for them because, well, rightfully so, president obama is dropping poll ratings and that has received

significant attention. what has received less attention are the ratings of republicans in congress which are extraordinarily low. it is scary for republicans. in the process of bringing down obama, it has not been a zero sum game. it is not like republicans have gone up. both parties are going down. the republicans are looked upon unfavorably. may i make one more point? one of the things that surprised me about this whole health care debate, and especially the complaint among conservatives is that president obama is doing exactly what the framers wanted the president to do. when we have big, national issues that need to be handled, what the framers wanted with these issues to be handled in congress. for there to be a national debate about big issues. it was not supposed to be that the president drew the process.

i have been encouraged by the way that president obama has adopted -- and this will shock people listening -- taking a conservative approach by allowing congress to do their job and by including the american people in this national discussion. you guys have done a great deal to foster and keep less vitriolic. he should receive some accolades for that. host: thank you. one comment from a viewer is that president bush should join the public option. dr. roberts oeulett will join us in moments from montreal. our focus is to step back from the debate here in washington and more about how healthcare systems work, in particular in canada. later in the week we will look

at it through the eyes of the hospitals. later this morning we will look back at how presidents spend their summer vacations. in the final hour of our conversation, we will talk with the author of a new book on senator mitch mcconnell. first, here are comments as president obama traveled to mexico for the summit meeting. he was asked questions about the canadian health-care system. here is part of what the president said earlier this month. >> i have said that the canadian model works for canada. it would not work for the united states. simply because we have evolved differently, in part. we have an employer-based system and a private-based health-care system that stand side-by-side with medicare and medicaid and our veterans administration health care. so, we have to develop a uniquely american approach.

this, by the way, is a problem all countries will have to deal with at some level because if medical inflation continues at this pace, everyone's budgets will be put under strain. we are trying to make sure we have a sensible plan that provides coverage for everyone, that continues the role of the private marketplace, but provides people without health insurance who are falling through cracks a realistic and many got. option we have to do it in a way that also changes the delivery system so we're not engaged in the kind of wasteful, an inefficient spending. i suspect we will have continued vigorous debate. i suspect you canadians will continue to get dragged in by those who oppose reform even though i have said nothing about canadian health care reform. i do not find canadians particularly scary.

but i guess some opponents of reform think they make a good bogyman. i think that is a mistake. once we get into the fall and people look at the actual legislation being proposed, that more sensible and reasoned arguments will emerge. we will get this passed. "washington journal" continues. host: joining us is the former president of the canadian medical thank you very much for joining us here on c-span. guest: good morning. host: let me begin by asking how the canadian system works? guest: it is mostly publicly funded. the funding comes from income tax. everyone is covered. this is the main feature of our system. it is universal.

everyone is covered. no one must pay anything to see a doctor or go to the hospital. it is a system that covers everyone, basically. host: how is it funded? guest: by the income tax. you pay the income tax. we have to understand that there are about 14 systems in canada because we have provinces, and other government structures. it is not a premium of insurance that is paid. in some provinces there is a premium, but mostly it is an income tax. host: you delivered a speech as you left your position and alluded to a couple of points. first of all, in areas of how canada can do better you wrote,

waiting 15 hours in an emergency room is unacceptable. within four hours in a doctor's office to renew a prescription is electable. within six months or more for his replacement is unacceptable. -- is unacceptable to wait so long and a doctor's office for a prescription. is that standard? guest: is not like that everywhere, but these examples exist. in quebec right now the average wait for an emergency ward is 15 hours. i give the example of four hours for the prescription in the doctor's office -- this was my cabdriver's expense. it may not be the rule, but it exists. the six month wait time for a hip replacement -- that is our target. if we compare it to other countries this target is very remote from what should be. host: so, how do you fix it? guest: the biggest problem in

canada is the wait time. we are looking at what other countries have done. european countries where they have a universal system -- we want to keep it like that. their system does not cost more, but they don't have those we times. we need to improve. we need to avoid the weight tons. this is the biggest problem in canada -- we need to avoid those wait times. host: it is not a single system, but varies by province. can you dig into some details to explain how would work if you live in montreal compared to toronto, or in the western part of the country? guest: basically, is the same system but would variation. it is based on five principles. what is included, universality, meaning that everyone is covered and no one pays for services,

accessibility, public administration -- the system is publicly administrative, and these principles are the basis of our system. portability is the last one, meaning that you can go from one province to the other and are still covered. the difference in the services that can be provided from one province to another -- some include a few extra, and some exclude the same. the biggest difference is about pharmaceutical care. in quebec it is a universal program. that is different in some other provinces. host: some background information on canada for our viewers here in the u.s. we'll also show you phone numbers. canada is come to over 31 million residents.

the average life expectancy is 78 for men, 83 for women. that is comparable to ours here in the u.s. 8.6% unemployment, slightly less than here. with issue to prescription drugs or medical equipment you need, is that all covered under the canadian system? guest: well, for the equipment, the care, if you go to the hospital or to see a doctor everything is covered from the first dollar. for pharmaceutical care is different. depending on the province there is a part you must pay. we pay about 30% out of pocket. 70% is covered by the state. this part of the money is for dental care, pharmaceutical

care, or ambulance, or long term care. the rest comes from the government. host: so, is medical bankruptcy even an option in canada if you face high bills without insurance? guest: this is not something we see frequently compared to what you see in your country. the police usually do not get bankrupt in canada because we're cover. there could be expenses if you have too many drugs to take in some provinces. -- the people usually do not give bankrupt in canada. we are covered. if you do not have the money to pay premiums, the government will pay it for you. so, there is no bankruptcy in canada because of health care. this is a very different system in the u.s. host: our guest joins us from

montreal. we have a line for canadians listening. we want to share an excellent of an interview we did for an upcoming interview. the author has a book about health care. he outlines the evolution of the canadian system. it began in the 1940's. >> you read my chapter about canada. what happened is one province, saskatchewan which is a lot like colorado, have planes and half mountains -- half plains -- elected a left-wing governor who

decided everyone in the province should have health care. he's set up a state-run single- payer system in 1944. his name was tommy douglas. he called the medicare and it work. everyone in that province had medicare. many doctors came there because they knew that they would get paid. the other provinces saw it and gradually they copied it. they saw it was working. by 1961 it was so popular that the people of canada demanded that the federal government established it coast to coast. it began in one state with tommy douglas. in 2004 the canadian broadcasting company did a poll -- millions of voters. the candidates included alexander randall, there'd jfk, -- the >> green, and others --

the >> and the one was tommy douglas. host: could you elaborate on that? guest: yes, it is important to know that the healthcare system is imported for canadians. you want to keep our system because it is important for everyone. we want to improve our system because we have wait times, but we still want to keep that universal access. no one needs to be denied health care if he does not have money. this is the basic principle and we. want to. everyone in canada wants to keep that. host: the line for the worse in canada is on the screen. in this country, dr. ouelett,

you quite often good to the emergency room if you do not have health care insurance. the causes of soar by those who are injured. what type of procedures are involved? -- the cost are suffered by those who are insured. guest: if you do to the emergency were you not pay anything. if you have any kind of surgery will not pay anything. even a heart transplant, or whatever procedure, you do not have to pay out of pocket. this is covered. it is imported. you will bwill not be denied any future for not having money. it is important to us to give access to everyone. it is the wait times that are the factor not -- that is the factor not working well.

host: pharmaceutical companies say here in this country they're able based on our system to spend money on research and development because of their profits. is there such a system in canada? guest: yes, we have pharmaceutical companies doing research. researchers also funded by our system and hospitals and universities. the government funds research. we also have companies working in canada, pharmaceutical companies. we have generic drugs, but also do drugs. we have companies doing research in canada. they're making profits on drugs. -- we have generic drugs, but also genuine drugs. host: with your system coverage outside your country -- would

it? guest: yes, but at the price paid here. if you go to the u.s. you need supplemental insurance because the costs are not the same. the insurance in canada will pay canadian-level costs, but most of the time it is not the same amount. we need supplemental insurance to go outside the country. host: you say part of the funding comes from taxes. can you break that down? guest: well, it is a gradual income-tax. some are not paying income tax at all. the maximum you have to pay is about 46% if we compare among provinces. there is a federal and provincial income tax. the maximum is 46%, but some do not pay income tax.

even if not, they are covered by the system. it is not a premium you pay if you are working or not. if you do not have a job the government will give you. you merger will give you care. it is not related -- the government will give you care. it is not related to having a job or not. host: jacqueline is joining us from california. caller: good morning, i would like to comment on the healthcare system. i personally feel the only people who are complaining are the middle to upper class whites were feeling the financial strain of what bush has done to them. now that their leaders are beginning to get another game plan and helping people have forgotten where this mess came

from, they seem to be angry that some poor kid from a family less fortunate might receive something they say they have not earned. the white republicans and richer people have received things they have not earned all their lives. it has been on the backs and sweat of poor people who have worked hard for this country who have been underpaid and without benefits. then they were discarded like" paper. can this system is not perfect. they are admitting that and saying there will put a strong effort into improving -- canada's system is not perfect, which they admit. we should at least try to improve the care for people instead of doing the same thing we always have. host: we will get a response. guest: it is very important to have everyone covered. even if people are not paying for income-tax, in canada we

feel we have a collective, social responsibility to give service to everyone even if they do not have money. because they deserved it. it is important for us canadians that health care is covered and provided to anyone. if he has money or no money. money is not important. it is the social responsibility of the country that we have taken. this is the way we think. this is it. host: our next call is sandy from new york city. caller: yes, i would like to ask a couple of questions. you mentioned earlier that you do not have to pay anything if you went into the emergency room and you would not have to pay anything if you had heart surgery or heart transplant. i wanted to ask you about the

madison. do canadians have to buy insurance for the medicines after they have the heart surgery? that would be a lot of money. also, the police and firemen, public workers, and people serving in the armed forces in canada, are they covered under the universal health care? finally, the you think the system would work if you have a population of 340 million like the u.s.? thank you, and i will listen to your reply. guest: the first question is, everyone is covered. the workers working for the government or armed forces have the same program for everyone because everyone has a universal system. everyone is covered whether or

not he is working for the government. there is no relation between your work and the healthcare you receive. for pharmaceutical care, people pay for medication, but depending on the province the amount differs. i will give you the example of quebec for you pay about 20% of the cost because there a maximum, a deductible, and accost you share. you can have private insurance or government insurance. it works. it is compulsory to be insured, but you pay about 20% of the cost. if you must pay more, it is covered. you do not pay more out of pocket. this is for the medications outside the hospital. inside the hospital everything is covered and paid 100%.

what was the third question? host: could your system work here in the u.s.? guest: i think we cannot explore the system -- the base of yours is different from what we have here. you need to look at what you are doing now and try to improve it. we have a good system we need to improve, but i'm not sure that it will work in the u.s. now. the starting point you have is so different from ours. i do not think you can import that. it is not about the number of people, but the way it is working. i do not think it could be imported in the u.s. many in canada will say we do not want to have the u.s. system. here in the u.s. you say we don't the canadian system. maybe both are right.

you need to improve yours and we need to improve ours. host: dr ouelett joins us from montreal and is a graduate of university of montreal. guest: i'm a radiologist. host: we have a message from twitter. what types of care are not covered based on age? guest: no, there is no -- i have seen those in the u.s.a. if you're 85 you will not receive it. that is not true. you receive the care you need. whenever your condition or age, if you need this procedure you will have it. you will not have to pay for that. this is the most important aspect of our systems. we do not select patients. we do not say no, you do not have money, so you do not have

cared. you will get the care they need. this is very important. host: we're joined from australia. what time is it there? caller: it is 25 past nine on sunday evening. i am watching your program live. host: we are thrilled to have you. what kind of system do have in australia? caller: we have a combination of a private system and a public universal system. there is universal coverage, but almost 40% also take out their own private health insurance. host: what do you do personally? caller: personally, i have a private, but for those who cannot afford it they can get free hospital care and up to 85% of the doctor's bill when they go to their general practitioner.

host: are you satisfied with your coverage and insurance? caller: yes, i think as the former head of the canadian ama said, all systems need to improve it. there is no system that is absolutely right. as i speak to people in the u.s. you have the very best of medicine, but the lack of universal coverage is the problem. also, the cost of the system there -- just a very simple statistics. the u.s. spends nearly 15% of its gdp on health. here are in australia spend nearly 10%. at the u.k. spends almost 8%. i think you can does not spend enough, but the u.s. is spending

a lot of money for a wealthy country. much of it is going into administrative costs. i'm a medical practitioner myself and my colleagues in the u.s. will talk about how they are controlled by insurance companies, about what services they can provide. we do not have those same sorts of controls here. there is administrative waste in the complexity there. the life expectancy in the west happens to be four years less than in australia, despite the greater cost. more money is spent but without a clear, improved outcome. many of the top academics in u.s. universities have been very clear looking around the world, at canada, european countries and looking at the strengths and

weaknesses in each area and seeing how that might be applied to the u.s. there is a lot of academic work i am sure it is informing the plans in your country at the moment. host: thank you for the call, john. we will get a response from our guest. guest: yes, in canada we spend about 10.7% of gdp, and you spend 15%. this is a lot compared to other countries. we went on a fact-finding mission of this year to european countries. we have seen countries not spending more in their system compared to ours. they have universal access which is the most important thing, nor significant weight time. it is possible to have a working system -- without a significant wait time.

i agree with the person on the phone that you have one of the best systems, the best care if you were going to some hospital, but the cost is very high. it is not sustainable, probably. you are paying too much. maybe you are paying too much for defensive medicine. we do not have that kind of attitude here in canada. this cost you a lot of money. . .

so this is why we're trying to offer that. whatever, if they have money or they don't, we want to offer them health care. this is the basic. >> what is the number one complaint you get from your patients about the canadian system? >> wait times. people are tired of waiting. and this is why we need to transform our system, to change something in our system so that

it must be much more efficient than it is right now because we are -- people are suffering for wait times. we have good quality in our system. they don't have to pay for that. but on the other side they have to wait. and this is why we're doing our study this year, the canadian medical association, because we think we can still have our system without significant wait time. we have improved but it's not enough. we need to do more of that. but we still have a good system. and people once they're in the system they're very, the satisfaction level is very high. it's to get in the system that is the problem. >> another tweet. are u.s. citizens sneaking over the border to receive canadian care? >> well, usually we don't ask that -- have that many americans coming to canada to have care. we don't -- this is not a problem that is going on in

canada. u.s. citizens are not coming to canada. they're probably going to other countries like india or thailand for medical tourism. >> one of the many ads ot issue of health care. americans for prosperity took a look at the canadian system. we'll watch it, come back, and get your reaction. >> i survived a brain tumor. but if i had relied on my government, i would be dead. i'm a canadian citizen. and as i got worse, my government health care system told me i had to wait six months to see a specialist. in six months i would have died. >> some patients wait a year for vital surgeries. delays that can be deadly. >> many drugs and treatments are not available because government says patients aren't worth it. >> i'm here today because i was able to travel to the u.s. where i received world class treatment.

government health care isn't the answer and it sure isn't free. >> now, washington wants to bring canadian style health care to the u.s. but government should never come between your family and your doctor. learn more at patients united now.com. >> my advice to americans, as patients it's your care. don't give up your rights. >> until earlier this month, u were the president of the canadian medical association. your reaction to part of the debate here in this country on health care. >> well, about that video, we have seen that. it's unfortunate. it's a sad story for that person. but it's not typical of what's happening in canada. people don't -- people are not dying on the street in canada. people don't ask to go to the united states to have health care. some of them will do that but it's a very, very small portion of people that need to do that because they wanted to have faster service.

but we're receiving good quality of service in canada. and i don't think that you could find people that are putting the amount of money she put i think it's $100,000 in her surgery. you don't need to do that in canada because it's available for free. >> free meaning that someone is paying. we're paying with our income tax. but for the patient it's free. so this is not a typical story of what's happening in canada. and i think it's not fair to say that people are dying object street in canada and we don't receive high quality services in canada. it's not tru. we receive high quality. we have a problem with wait times. we know that. we want to fix that. but it's not true our system is so bad that you're dying on the street. >> this program is being sime you will cat on cpac in canada and cheryl is joining us.

are you happy with your system? caller: very happy, steve. and good morning. i was just watching the canadian medical association meeting that they have every year and my biggest concern and i am scared to death about this as much as the americans are fighting to keep public system out of their private system, i don't want private system in my public system. i feel this is going to be a very slippery slope that final thri public system will be so degraded. the problem with our wait times, and i'm 250 miles north of toronto, the problem with our wait times is we have a shortage of doctors. what we should be doing, and i think canada can do it, we should be paying the freight to educate our doctors. we pay the shot. let's pay for these doctors to go through so they won't get hung up with high, high debt

when they get through their schooling. then they will come to smaller communities. and about the wait times, i had a hip replacement four years ago. i opted to go to toronto for it. i could have gone to the city next to mine but i opted to go to toronto. i hasn't seen this surgeon in 20 years. i saw him in 30 days and in the next 30 days i had my hip replacement. then i had home care, i had fizzyo therapy at home. it was just fantastic. i had nurses come in and take care of me all at no expense to me. thank god for our system, sir. i hope we keep it and i hope we don't go down this private sector slippery slope. host: thank you for the call. guest: well, some people are receiving good care in canada. and when we're talking about wait times, some people don't have to wait that they're lucky to have that.

fortunately it's not everyone -- unfortunately, it's not everyone who has the same kind of service that she has, but it's true that many people have that kind of service that she was talking about. so nothing -- it's not everything that is bad in canada about our health care system. and people are happy. and she was talking about privatization. we don't want to privatize our system. the only thing we have said in our general meeting is, if needed, we could ask the private sector to help. but this will be paid by the public system. for giving private delivery of surgeon services. and this is not about going toward privatization of the system. it's just taking all the measures, all the possibility to give the better service to the patient. so it's one way to try to improve our system. but we're not going toward privatization of the canadian system. that's for sure.

host: another tweet from a viewer. guest: it's not for everything. it depends. and you heard that lady, she had her hip replacement within 30 days. depending on where you live, canada is a wide country. we have remote areas, we have big cities. and there's variations for wait times for surgery and wait times for medical examination like x-rays or ct scans. it's different depending on where you live. in some of the big cities you might have a better access than if you have -- if you are in a remote area. so it's not even in canada. it's depending on where you stay. host: if you just joined us, today we're taking a closer look at the canadian health care system. what we like to call as canada health care 101, dealing with

some of the basics. as part of the overall debate on health care. and tomorrow, tuesday and wednesday we'll take a look at health care through the eyes of one hospital, and during the course of the programming over the next couple weeks we'll take a closer look at the health care system in great britain. caller: good morning. i've had a few of my questions partially answered but i'm wondering, can the doctor tell us, if the difference is 6%, where 6% higher here because of our costs, it's just hard for me to believe that it's all because of defensive medicine here. how do you keep your costs down if there's no rationing? and isn't it try that there are businesses or associations up there just to help people get to the u.s. to have procedures that they either have to wait so long for or can't be taken care of there?

guest: there are some associations that are doing that, but it's a very, very small portion of people that have access to health care in the u.s. there are about one or two offices that are doing that. but, believe me, it's a very, very small portion of people that are getting in those kind of associations. so it's not a widespread phenomenon. people are saying, because they will receive good care in canada. and i believe we have a good system in canned dafplt we need to improve it but it's a good system. host: go ahead with your question. caller: good morning to everyone. good morning doctor, i'd like to know as far as the wait times are concerned, to what extent the rules that guide the doctors, the operation, the operation rooms basically. because i heard that to a certain extenlts that doctors are allowed to operate maybe

four hours a week and they are kind of frustrate bid that. but there's some kind of rule. maybe you could elaborate on that. that's my first question. number two, we are are talking about like waiting up to 15 hours in the emergency rooms but if you get there with a broken leg or a gun shot or asthma attack, you're not going to wait 15 hours. so i'd like you to comment on really the 15 hours. is it because there's a shortage of doctors and instead of going no where they just go there for their cough or for whatever reason? that's not really an energy? and my last question -- emergency. and my last question is maybe what was the ratio between the doctor and the population like back maybe 30 years ago and what is it today? thank you very much. guest: ok. first, for the doctors having one day of operating time a week, it's about the situation

in canada. and we think that doctors and surgeons think that they could operate more than that. so this is why, if they were going in the private facility paid by the public system, they could operate, they could have operating time more than what they have right now. for the wait times, 15 hours, of course. if you come in the emergency with something very urgent you won't wait for 15 hours. the wait times is for those people that they don't want to see their doctor or their doctor is not available they come to the emergency ward for something that is not that urgent. so the wait time for those patients could be 15 hours. but if you come with a cardiac arrest, don't worry, you won't wait for 15 hours. that's for sure. and the last question was about zoo the ratio between doctors

and the canada population. guest: the ratio of doctors is 2.1 right now. it has been about 1:120 years ago. we're improving. we're training more doctors. but in the 90's there was a great cut in the training spots of doctors and we're still suffering from that. this was a decision of all the provinces and the federal government to stop the funding of training doctors because they thought at that time that if we had less doctors the system will cost less. this was a big mistake and we're still suffering from that because it takes a long time to train a doctor. you could take ten years and we're improving. we're putting more spots, more training spots for doctors for residents and students but we're still have a big problem in canada of shortage of doctors. if we compare, we have 2.1

doctors compared 1,000 people. in some countries like belgium they have 4.2 so they have less of a problem of access in those countries than what we have here. host: tonight a conversation with dr. john gared, who is the chairman of the board. he is also the chief cardiologist at the virginia hospital center. and then next week, t.r. reed, the healing of america. and during the conversation comparing the canadian and the u.s. system and part of the interview includes a look at the cultural differences between our two countries. here's an excerpt of next week's q and a. >> i'm pretty tough on canada because they keep you waiting so long. and i was talking to minister in canada and i said you keep people waiting. how can you call this good health care? you have to wait months to see a speshtist. and his answer was, look,

canadians don't mind waiting so much as long as the rich canadian and the poor canadian have to wait about the same amount of time. and that is their national culture. and we don't have that ethic. it's a standard in america that rich people are going to get better health care than poor people. no other country lets that happen. host: your response to the comments of the author. guest: well, i think i have to agree that this is a different attitude that we have and that you don't have here in the states. for us, it doesn't matter if you have money or you don't have money for health care, you will be offered the same kind of health care for everyone. and this is a matter of culture, of attitude, because we believe that health care is the number one priority in life that we need to provide to our citizens. this is a cultural thing. and we want to keep it like

that. host: we welcome mark joining us on the phone from virginia. caller: good morning. you know, it's unfortunate that the debate is taking place around the canadian health care system because of those government managed plans, it's probably the one that unfortunately, and no auches to your guest, has worked the least well in terms of dollars spent. the japanese system, for instance, could do a cat scan at one tenth of the cost that we could do them here. patients who need major surgery have it done within the week. germany is pretty close. france is close as well, as is the scandanavian system. you know, having this debate around the u.s. versus the canadian system is exactly where the likely opponents of health care want it to be because the canadian system is the poorest choice of those currently available national plans. no e offense to your guest, but

as he's admitted it needs improvement. guest: i have to agree with you, because if we compare ourselves, canada to other european countries, we're not performing well. and i agree with that. and this is why we need to make some changes in canada. this is why our association wants to transform our system to become a system much more efficient like the system we have seen in the european countries. of course we have a problem because of a shortage of doctors to do that. they have more doctors than what we have. but we have seen systems where they have universal coverage. their system doesn't cost more than our system and they don't have wait times. so it's possible to do that. and this is where we're going with the canadian -- we want to go with the canadian system. we want to improve. we don't want to change everything but we surely want to improve it. and i agree with you that we're not the best in the world, the u.s. is not the best in the world. there are some countries

performing more than we are doing rights now and this is costing less money than even we're spending on our system. host: peter from wini peg. you're next. caller: good morning. i'm a resident in minnesota and do lot of work in win nipeg. first, there's a lot of misconceptions. minnesota has a state subsidized insurance program. there's a number of states that actually have some of the culture that he is talking about. they're not framed around civil rights, they're framed around the good of the economy for the state. and we have almost universal coverage in the state. in fact, the people who aren't covered probably don't know about the program. secondly, my dad's currently getting treatment at the mayo klinic for esophageal cancer. now, i don't believe the canadians are coming there because of a problem with their system as much as it's the fact

that it's the mayo clinic and it's a global hospital. my question is that a lot of the advances in treatment and a lot of the advances in pharmaceuticals come from the u.s. paying so much money. and if the u.s. creates a new type of system, how is it that those type of extremely advanced global centers, pharmaceutical developments get paid for, how do the canadian citizens pay for it when they go to the mayo clinic? so two points. i think the states might be better and share some of that culture. and second global centers the cutting edge of medicine, how will that get paid for? guest: i agree that you have institution in the united states that are top notch, that are top of the world, like mayo clinic and some of them. and you need to keep that because this is very important for research. and you're doing some

procedures, some things that we're not doing in canada. but if a canadian citizen wants to go to the mayo clinic, he has to pay out of his pocket to do that because it's not covered, or at least the part that will be covered is very small compared to the real cost. so people are paying out of their pocket if they want to to have that. but these are for very specific things that could not be done in canada. but we're doing most of the things. but you still, i believe that you still need to keep those great institutions that you have. they are world class and you need to keep that. host: larry is joining us from pittsburgh. and some more information on canada and its health care system. caller: really great program. i'm originally from pittsburgh. i've lived in germany for three years, and my wife's family comes from canada and i've seen all three systems. and i will tell you this, i do

cancer research. and if you have cancer, you want to live in canada because they have 100% coverage. their women come for their pap smears, they have the lowest incidents of cervical cancer than any country in the world. they're the best at screening women for cervical cancer. and we have these statistics. american women do not come to the doctor as often as canadian women because they don't have insurance. if you want to talk about wait times, just go to any major city, where you have people without insurance. and go to the emergency room. you'll see three, four hour wait times. i think the canadian system is much better than we have here in american's on the whole because we have too many people without coverage. and germany, you pay 7.5% of your income for excellent insurance. it's very expensive but you get great care in germany as well. letting these people with

serious diseases like cancer in this country without screening for cancer is an abomb nation and something has to be done about it. host: thank you for the call. next, montreal. caller: hi, thank you for taking my call. doctor, thank you very much for being on. i'm from montreal and i'm living in connecticut right now taking care of my mother who has leukemia. doctor, you're being very modest, and i know that you're very smart. but you're being like us good canadians who are always saying thank you even when you know we're right. i know that you do not want to be in a situation that the americans are in like the gentleman just said, the call before this call. the waiting list in canada, i have lived in three provinces,

i have lived in new brunswick, ontario, and question beck. and i have never had more than a three hour wait, maybe a four hour wait in any er room. i have three children. we have four adopted children. we have never had any long waiting period in any hospitals. i have a large family. and i want to say to the american people that they do want a system like the canadian system in comparison to what they have right now. i have complex region al pain syndrome. the canadian take care of us beautifully. that's pain 24/7. we do not have anything compared to what you're looking at without any type of medical system at all. host: doctor.

guest: well, i think she's right. we have a good system. and this is what i've been saying. she was lucky enough not to wait but i can tell you that some people are waiting. we have to look at the situation like it is for some people. some of them are luckier than others but we still have a problem with wait times. if this patient could have all those services without wait times, thank god, that's fine. and i think that the most important thing is what she said about having access to those treatment even if you don't have money, even if you don't have to pay for that it's provide bid the state, provided -- the care is provided by the state because we believe in that. host: shirley joining us from pennsylvania. go ahead caller: good morning. thank you very much. i wanted to know, with your health care system, is there a

limit as to how many times that you would be allowed to go to the doctor, say you have something that is chronic and you're always -- say allergies, for instance. and from one time to another gets worse, gets better, gets worse and you need to make numerous calls to the doctor to try to get these problems solved. is there a limit as to how many times you're allowed to go? and if they see that you are making too many appointments, maybe they're going to say no more? i'm concerned about that because it looks like maybe we're going to be getting the same thing here in the united states and i'm truly worried about it. at my age, we're on medicare. we have a supplement. and we're very happy with what we have. now, i understand there are a lot of people here in the united states who don't have any. host: how old are you if i may

ask? caller: my husband and i are 70. and he has numerous problems. and he is back and forth all the time and has to have blood work done. and a lot of times, he couldn't wait sometimes say 15 hours or whatever, he could never wait like that. that would be absolutely terrible. host: thank you for the call. guest: well, i think that in canada you don't have that problem. even if you have a chronic disease and you need to see your doctor each week, you won't be denied. as you need care, you will have care. so this is not a problem. and no one will say, oh, you're coming too often. no. if you need that care, it's, you can come and you will receive it for free because the system is like that. so it's available and it's

there. and you won't be denied any procedure if you really need it. and you will have it. so people are not afraid about that. and so those people with chronic disease who come tuvene their doctor, they're not waiting 15 hours. we're talking about patients going to the emergency ward for something that is unexpected. but if you go to your doctor you won't wait 15 hours for that. if you have a chronic disease, you will be seen reg alreadyly by your doctor -- regularly by your doctor. and you don't have to pay for a team of say social workers and nurses. this is included in our system, and you will have the care that you need. host: to our radio audience, our conversation is with dr. wolet, former head of the canadian association. caller: good morning. i would like to ask the doctor, he's being very tactful and i

thank him for that. he said that the difference in attitudes between our two countries. but it seems to me that it's more of a difference in moral values. that is the fact here. i personally believe that every citizen should be entitled to adequate health care regardless of income or race or status in life. that's just a basic right of human beings. and it seems to me that is what canada feels. guest: well, i think you're absolutely right. this is how we feel and this is what we think. i'm not saying that you're absolutely wrong. but i think a great country

like yours should look at giving their citizens a full coverage on health care because this is fundamental. and this is what european countries have understood also, because they're giving full coverage to everyone, whether they have money or don't have money. and this is the principle that we have here in canada and we want to keep it like that. host: janet, former resident of toronto now living in indiana. go ahead. caller: it's not a question, it's more of a statement. i love the states and i love canada and i've lived in both. i came to the states for graduate school and when i came here, i did not have insurance here. i'm a student, i'm paying a lot of money to be here in school so i ended up getting injured in my dorm apartment and it became a problem where for the first time in my life i had to be debating whether to go to the hospital to get care or whether to just stay there with

it and try to figure it out on my own. that was the first time i was ever in such a predicament because it became about money and not about my health. and i remembered ending up going to a pharmacy to ask the pharmacist what ideas he had about what i could do to care for myself because i could not afford to go to the hospital. i also at the same time i have a 77-year-old mother in canada right now. for the past 25 years she's had multiple medical problems. her medical history is very complex. i thank god for the canadian system. she has been cared for thoroughly with no expense to her. what's sad to me is when someone has to lose their life savings to get health care. and i think that shouldn't be the fabulous country with fabulous people. and i think that there's something that can be done about it.

the money is there to make it happen and it shouldn't be about certain parties making money, such as h.m.o.s and so forth. so i find the canadian system fabulous. i thank goodness for it. that's what's keeping my mother going. in terms of wait time she has so many complex problems we have never had a wait time for surgery. she had to have back to back summerry last year and there was not anything about a significant wait time. she has to go to specialists all the time and there's not a problem. so i wanted to give both perspectives. host: as you were giving your comments, steve clark sent us this tweet. guest: in very specialized areas, you could do that. let's say in questionbeck, if we have some clinics with m.r.i. or ct where you can pay out of your pocket and you will jump the cue. but this is a very, very small

segment that exists in canada. and usually it's not that. usually as -- you don't have to pay anything. money is not the first concern. and the lady that spoke that she said i was not sure if i wanted to go to the hospital because i had to pay so i had to make a choice, we don't have to make that choice because you can go to the hospital because you know that you won't pay anything. so it's not a choice. it's something that people do. and they don't think about because the availability is there. host: final question is we can continue the debate on this issue here in the u.s., what advice would you give americans? guest: i think you really nide to look at your system and to look at those people that are uninsured, 46 million, and to try to find a way. find it. it's your problem. but find a way to give health

care services to those people. and i think it's a social debate but it's very important. it's, call it a right, a moral thing, call it whatever you want. but i think that you have to find a way to improve your system to give health care to those people that are not receiving proper health care right now. that's my advice. host: doctor robert wollett, joining us from montreal, thank you for your time this morning. guest: thank you. host: coming up in a couple minutes, we want to turn our attention to presidential vacations as president obama wraps up his week lonk visit to martha's vin yard. we want to take a look back at how other presidents have spent their summer recess. and later this morning, john david dike, out with a new book. as we wrap up our month long

series of authors here on c-span. dr. tom freedman, the new center for the centers for disease control. he is our guest. discussing what's next for the h1n1 swine flu. and preparations in this country as we move into the fall and wit winter months. here's an excerpt from "newsmakers." >> this week the presidential council of science advisers issued a report on h1n1 flu. it gave a pretty surprising estimate on what the impact on the united states would be. can you tell us how the c.d.c. see it is very fact based on that report and whether you think some of the numbers might have been overblown or exaggerated? i think one of the numbers given is as many as 90,000 people could be expected to die this flu season.

>> certainly. everything we've seen in the u.s. and everything we've seen around the world to date suggests that we won't see that kind of number if the virus doesn't change. but the presidential commission did a terrific job of giving an overview of what are the challenges in addressing h1n1 and what are some of the things that we need to do. many of those things are under way now. many of them are difficult. addressing influenza is hard. influenza is one of the least predictable of all infectious diseases. and that means that among other things we need to do lots to get ready in terms of our health care system. what would we do if we needed more people on ventilators and in intensive care units? how can we plan to surge up? and those plans are under way. what can we do to vaccinate people as quickly as possible when vaccine becomes available? how can we make sure that

people who have underlying health conditions like asthma, diabetes, and who might get very sick from flu get rapidly treated if they get sick and flu is circulating? >> you can log on and watch our interview with dr. freeden. it also airs at 10:00 eastern time coming up in about 90 minutes from now. we want to welcome to the washington journal lawrence, the author of an upcoming book. good morning. thanks for being with us. guest: it's escaping the guilded cage. host: we welcome. and thank you for that clarification. how do presidents escape the guilded cage? >> the guilded cage of course is the white house. and from the very beginning presidents have saw that as a golden ring of american politics and then decided, well, maybe we need to go on vacation. one president called the job a

bed of thorns. robert lincoln, the president's son, president lincoln's son, called it a guilded prison. harry truman called it the great white jail. and ronald reagan said living there gave him a sort of bird in the guilded cage feeling. and he escaped, flew back to his ranch in california as often as he could. >> a lot of attention on the kennedy family this past week and a lot of pictures from hyannis port which is one of the locations where john kennedy used to vacation during his two and a half years in the white house. what did you learn in researching the kennedy administration and how jack kennedy spent his administration? >> the family compound at hyannis port became an instant magnet of for tourists and people of all descriptions. they had to build a fence around it to preserve some

sense of privacy. and later in the administration he tended to go to newport where his wife jackie's family had their own home. because it offered a little more privacy and a little more freedom to actually go on vacation. >> how much time does a president have to vacation, and how much do official duties still become part of the daily schedule, whether it's morning briefings or breaking news? >> nothing is written down about where they can go, where he goes or what has to happen. but a modern presidential vacation is an exercise in logistics and an exercise in keeping up with the work load. some presidents go through a burst of activity but in between has to come the

intelligence briefings, the economic briefings nowadays. all the paper work. and then anything that may suddenly appear on the horizon. >> mark miller who is the unofficial tracker of presidential triia pointed out that during the reagan presidency, if you looked at the amount of time he spent at california at the ranch was about a year of his presidency, often spending a month or more in california. where did this, how did this come about which is now a nonprofit as part of the reagan center? >> how did the ranch come about? reagan saw it before he was president, looked at the view, and decided to buy it before he even got to the house. the view is fantastic. it's it stretches over the pacific ocean. and reagan just fell in love with the place, called it his ranch in the heavens.

>> and the security involved for these presidential vacations, how different is it compared to here in washington? >> a presidential vacation is an exercise in logistics. it involves cars, trains, boats, every kind of transportation, every kind of communications worldwide and global in an instant. and full of security and a full press corps. the secret service goes with the president wherever he is and they are ready to deal with whatever has to be dealt with. >> the book "escaping the guilded cage" and our guest, more on the upcoming book, also part that came out. and, as you point out in the body of this magazine, that the president's shirts were loose, comfortable, and vividly patterned. harry truman spent a lot of

time in key west. >> it turned out to be perfect for him. it was a place that, it was a military base, a submarine base. he actually at one point went down on a captured german submarine on his first vacation there. it was perfect because he could do what he wanted to, he could walk around the base. the sailors would essentially leave him alone if he wanted to be left alone and talk to him if he wanted to talk. but he could get his work done in the morning. he could walk out to a beach the navy had made for him, no sand in key west but the navy made one. and take a nap midday, wake up in time for the first of two poker sessions, which he really relaxed. >> the photograph from the book and our guest, our phone lines are open.

what intrigued you the most in researching how presidents get away from washington? >> what did the most? >> what intrigued you the most? >> how they changed over time. when george washington went on his first break from office, it took the better part of a week over terribly rough roads to travel from philadelphia to mount vernon. the other thing about it is that washington established two precedents. one, presidents are entitled to a break from their daily rue tin. and, two, the work of the

presidency goes with them wherever they are. in washington's case, he supervised the building of the city, which was to bear his name. this city, washington's city. the city of washington. >> the kennedys at high answer port, the bush family walkers point in maine. >> it became a blur of activity. it was president bush, the first president bush wint for a two mile run in the morning. he followed that with speed golf, going through 18 holes at about half the time most people did. he came back to the house maybe for tennis or a swim. he then went out to sea in his speed boat. i called it a heart stopping jaunt. he fished. he came back.

if there were fish to clean, he cleaned them. and then toward the end of the day played highly competitive horse shoes. he was, some people call it, perpetual motion. and the most interesting summer was when iraq, saddam hussein invaded kuwait and the president had to decide whether or not to keep his vacation schedule. he decided that, yes, he would. that no foreign event was going to dictate his personal schedule. but the result was you have photographs on television of troops preparing to go to the middle east and the president playing tennis, playing golf, swimming, and going out on his boat. >> there's also a photograph that i want to share with you

and this is the storm damage that hit walker's point. explain this picture. >> there was a hurricane that came up the coast and raveadged the president's home. i was not there. some of my colleagues were. walked with him through the ruins. and he was absolutely visibly emotionally involved in all of it. this is the place that he had come basically every summer of his entire life except those years he was in world war ii. and the place meant the world to him. and for those months it was in ruins. >> our guest, our first call is from florida. good morning. caller: i'm sorry.

i thought you had it recorded. host: you're on the air. caller: my question was as far as i can remember, i'm in my 50's, most presidents had a second home where they could go. and in my memories it's been rather luxurious places. i notice president obama doesn't have a second home. he has a home in chicago but i don't know if it's got the trappings of other presidents. i think this is just a testimony to his background and his lack of privilege and old money. guest: you're right. a lot of presidents have had their own homes. and in the early days, washington, john adams, thomas jefferson, james madison, president monroe, they all went back to homes that they owned. going home was the order of the day. later, with steamboat transportation first, then rail

roods, then planes, the range of presidential vacation became very much greater. and a lot of them did have their own homes. kene bunkport is one. but in the theater, roosevelt administration, the president's wife bought a house in virginia way out in the woods that reporters described at the time as called pine knot. and reporters described it at the time as the hum blest, plainest, most simple dwelling ever occupied by a president of the united states. it is basically a room downstairs, a room upstairs, a fireplace, all wood, that's it. he loved it. >> how would you compare that to the l.b.j. ranch where he spent his summers? >> the l.b.j. ranch was, had

state of the art comports. pine knot, teddy roozevelts place, had very few comforts indeed. maybe he liked the contrast and maybe it reminded him of his younger days out in the dakotas. >> there is a story in the photograph we want to show our audience of with some thought was a car but actually was a car and a boat that lyndon johnson used to take his guests on. guest: johnson liked taking reporters around the ranch often at high speeds but he had a special car. he used to initiate. he often did it at the river or at lake lyndon b. johnson and would come to a road with a sharp drop into the lake, go

down the road, pretend that the brakes had failed, go all the way down to the boat, left the road, pluvend into the lake, and you only then discovered that it was an car that floated as well as road the highways. host: kay from atlanta. good morning. caller: good morning. i'd like to ask you a question about the length of time the presidents spend on vacation. you've already told us that ronald reagan spent one year of his eight years on vacation. can you tell us, since ronald reagan, how much time each president, beginning with bush one then clinton then george w. urks how much time did they spend in office on vacation, as well as what part of their vacation doss we pay for, taxpayers? guest: i can't because some of the figures are not complete.

there were a number who have spent in recent times, our times, a year or more at places like the l.b.j. ranch. the all-time winner as far as i can see, as far as time spent away from the office, was at the very, very beginning of all of this, and it was john adams. david mccall in his biography of adams notes that there was one summer when adams' wife became ill that he was away for a full seven months. that is certainly longer than anybody has ever managed up until now. george washington spent about a year at mount vernon. host: the upcoming book is

called "escaping the guilded cage." if you want to get more information, log on. a link available through c-span.org. next call, sandy from florida. caller: hello. i'd like to tie this into the last segment and say that the reason that people are opposing this so-called health care reform is not because we don't want to cover all the people in this country. that is something that the grand majority including the conservative republicans want to do. but what the issue is, is we don't trust our government. and this segment about these presidential vacations is part -- high lights part of the problem, which is that these presidents have become like royalty where we watch their ever move. i mean, we have a president now who is basically living and

conducting himself like a king. and that perception seeps in. and americans just don't like that kind of very heavy top down government. host: let me ask you a question, whether it's jimmy carter, ronald reagan, barack obama, is it royalty or is it interest in how presidents spend vacations? and during the ongoing news cycle what they're talking about or doing? caller: it's not republican or democrat. host: what i'm saying the is no matter who is in the white house. caller: i think that we need to tone down that presidency a lot. i don't know -- we just had a segment on canada. what i'd like to now is how the canadian people perceive their prime minister. is he this huge figure who is out on tv every day? and who is -- whose wife get praffed in all her clothes and

goes on these vacations, and we get hints and glimpses. there's just this whole apparatus around the presidency in our country that i don't think, i mean, it's not in other countries. i've lived in other countries and you don't perceive this ongoing royal watch except maybe in england with the reel royals. host: we'll stop you on that point, take a look. guest: during his presidency, at camp david he would often take a helicopter as privately as he could to a trout stream in rural pennsylvania, because jimmy carter learned how to fly fish for trout as president of the united states. that is a president that set back someone back in the 1920s,

calvin cool ladge who often learned how to fish. and when he was criticized for fishing with worms, his lead psych ret service agent taught him how to fish with flies. the criticism of presidential vacations goes right back again to the very beginning. in the presidency of john adams, the first time he left the philadelphia which was then the seat of the government to go home to quincy, the philadelphia erupt. and this is in david mccall's book. the philadelphia said that the president had abscobbeded from the seat of government. and that he had done so just at the time that the public mind was exceedingly agitated. the criticism has really been constant for one reason or

another, spending too much time away, should be in the office working, treating himself to too much of a good time. president grant was roundly criticized for spending time at long branch, new jersey, which was then a very, very fashionable beach resort. and the criticism became so much that there was a congressional inquiry that questioned the legitimacy of any official actions taken by the president on vacation. he responded with a, his own history of presidential vacations, showing all of them. washington, jefferson, adams. and issued executive orders, signed bills, done the whole

gamut of their official duties while at their vacation homes. host: we don't have the picture, but the drawing courtesy of the white house historical association of the only president to serve two nonconsecutive terms. this is grover cleveland, the honeymoon cottage in deer park, maryland, as the president was taking some time off from the white house. we also want to show you some of the photographs from abraham lincoln's summer home located in northwest washington, to president eisenhower with the name of camp david named after his grandson david eisenhower. and as we listen to james from winston salem, north carolina. caller: good morning. i'm president of a local organization here. my responsibility is to almost consider kind of 24/7 kind of

job. and just imagine what that of the president of the united states is. i want to know, what, who, how did the idea of the vacation come about and who was the first president that initiated it? host: as we look at this photograph of abraham lincoln, not only working and planning the civil war but spent vacation a couple miles from the white house but a vast distance in washington in the 1860's. the is it any different from any other citizen? >> guest: how they came about? as i said, george washington took -- vacation is a late 19th century concept. george washington certainly never knew that he was going on vacation. he did know he was going home and going home to conduct his own private business, to work,

supervise the work of his plantation, and to supervise the building of the city. but they all evolved in time, and certainly he started. you mentioned the lincoln home. and it's a good example of how lincoln felt as he could only go three miles north of the city. and the home is a retirement home for old soldiers. it is still there. it has recently been opened by the national trust for historic preservation. and in the summer of 1862, lincoln fought through all the issues that became the

emancipation proclamation while living in this cottage three miles north of the white house. host: if you go to our website, you'll be able to see a tour that was conduct ds as they reopened the lincoln summer home and a tour also available on the white house historical website. our next call, david from boston. good morning. please go ahead. caller: again thank you for taking my call. i admire presidents for taking their work on vacation. a lot of us just have the luxury go on vacation and threeve work behind. but they take it with them. my question is, based on the history of past presidential retreats and vacation spots, does the size of their retreat or ranch depend on the size of their number? host: let me go back and asked

you about harry truman. we have some film from key west. how much time did he spend down there? guest: truman was there about ten or 11 times. he generally went in march. he, it was generally a winter vacation. probably the most memorable for him and everyone who was there was the vacation he took immediately after the 1948 election, an election which of course he was expected to lose but instead he won. . .

host: our next call is rachel from delray beach, florida. caller: good morning, i have two comments that i hope you'll give me the time for. i think it is very important for a man who has the weight of the country and the world on his shoulders to be able to take a breather here and there were ever he can find a space. since no matter where he goes and for how over -- for however long and short a period of time he is taking the weight of the world on his shoulders. that is how i feel about the president's vacation. host: the audience is looking at footage of president herbert

hoover who served one term preceded by fdr. where did he vacation? guest: herbert hoover created his own vacation spot on the river in the blue ridge mountains west of washington. today it is part of shenandoah national park. he created a real presidential camp using primarily his own money, but some government help on building roads and that kind of thing. they had an assembly hall, a library, various sleeping cabins. three buildings are left of that. there is the president's own cabin right next to the spring or he could fall asleep at night

with a burbling of the brecook. he loved to fish, trout fish. his lead secret service agents [unintelligible] as the depression deepened. his hand began to show a tremor when he cast for trout fish. host: it looks like he was wearing a tie. guest: a lot of people did. he wore a full suit and tie when he with fishermen of calvin coolidge on his vacation in 1927 war awful suit and cowboy hat as he went up the road to dedicate -- he wore a full suit. host: are you still on the line?

caller: yes, i'm sorry to get sidetracked, but i wanted to explain the scene. they have proven by studies that when someone has a little solitude and time to focus that that is when real creativity sets in. i am sure the nation benefits at those times. the other thing i wanted to bring out which is so important is a headline you read, i think it ibrooks, about the scary times. there also studies that show when you ask a question represent something, the words you use will bring back the same thing to. host: thanks for the call. the quote was from the david broder in the paper this morning. he says that he hopes a president obama had a good

vacation because he will be facingcsheer hell -- you'll be facing -- he will be facing sheer hell. guest: many presidents have been in host: that position the next call is steve from detroit. caller: good morning. i wanted to comment on the lady who said something about the people getting tired of the presidents getting treated like royalty. i'm not all that sure about the president, but congress itself flying back home every weekend with may be their second homes -- it is ridiculous. we need to get rid of those people, all. of all host: we will get a response.

guest: no. host: how did this come about with camp guest: shangri-la it was the beginning of world war two and it was the secret service. he liked to go out on the presidential yacht and naval ships. he sailed his own sailboat at the beginning of the east coast of the u.s. to the roosevelt family summer home in canada. it was one of the few times the president has left the u.s. on vacation, but at the beginning of the war the secret service was nervous about the possibility of a submarine activity near the presidential yacht. they basically said no more in chesapeake bay or out into the atlantic, so the staff started

looking for a suitable place closer to washington, to the president's home in hyde park, n.y.. they found one and a former boys' camp in the mountains of western maryland. it was rustic. it was little more than one hour's drive by car from the white house, so they get their fairly easily. it was a place of quiet. no one knew. the whole thing was secret. no wonder the president was going there. the name came about because of a bombing raid on japan. the president was asked by reporters where the plans to take it off from -- and he said our secret base at shangri-la.

that course was the name of a very popular novel at the time about a mountain paradise up in the himalayas. they called this campus shangri- la from about that time, and because he was a sailor there was a navy ship log every time the president went there. all of his fellow passengers signed in behind him. host: finally renamed by president eisenhower. here is the photograph of the outgoing and incoming presidents. guest: they changed the name because the president thought the shangri-la was a little too fancy for farm boy like him, or that is what he said.

it was his privilege to change it. his father was david eisenhower and his grandson was david eisenhower. he named it camp david. host: the book "escaping the gilded cage: an illustrated history of presidential vacations and retreats" -- part of the white house preservation. we appreciate your time. guest: you are welcome indeed. host: yesterday we took a look at a new biography on barney frank, the chair of the house financial services committee. we want to take a closer look at mitch mcconnell next. the author john david dyche will join us in just a moment. it is sunday, august 30. "washington journal" continues in just a moment. ♪

>> as washington and the nation continue to focus on health care, today we will talk about dealing with the h1n1 swine flu virus with dr. frieden, director of the centers for disease control. and, a look inside the u.s. hospital system with dr. garrett. >> on august 20, the only man convicted in the bombing of pan am 103 was convicted in a scottish prison. tonight watched the debate from the scottish parliament following this decision to release him to his home country of libya. >> go inside the supreme court to see the public places and of those really seen spaces. hear directly from the justices as they provide insight about the court and building.

the supreme court, home to america's highest court. the first sunday in october, on c-span. >> this coming week, it in prime time, monday with dan balz and haynes johnson on the 2008 election. and, later, joe scarborough interviewed on the future of the conservative movement. but to become a prime time on c- span2. host: the book is called the "republican leader: a political biography of senator mitch mcconnell" and john david dyche is joining us. what did you learn about him in researching this book? guest: he has moved along the india logical spectrum from a more moderate to a more conservative position. he likes to use humor in his campaign ads even though he has

a reputation as a very hard- hitting campaigner. he often does a with a light, humorous touch. from the very young age he has had his sights set on becoming not only of senator, but an important one. he has achieved that. host: he quotes several reasons for his evolution toward conservative orthodoxy. he was also influenced by certain other influential leaders. guest: mitch mcconnell came of age under john sherman cooper, from kentucky, a moderate even too liberal. he had opposed goldwater in the republican primaries in 1964. he supported president ford over reagan in 1976. he supported bush over reagan in

1980. once he came to washington, at the same time reagan was being reelected, he saw that conservative ideas could work. the country have moved in a conservative direction. he is an avid reader. as he read columnist and watched phil gramm who he admires and practice -- in practice, and had an effect. host: he ran against another senator, and then a poll cannot join him ahead by nearly 45 - 50 percentage points. late in the campaign came these ads that have often a study by political scientist called hound dogs. >> my job was to find and get him back to work.

he was missing big bets on social security, agriculture, and other things. he was making an extra $50,000 and giving speeches. i just missed him. let's go, we have him now. i was close. at this beach in pr. we cannot find him. we need to let him make speeches and switch to match for center. -- to mitch for senator. >> ever since the race has begun he has been missing, but now kentucky is closing in. we will ketchum. -- we will catch him. no wonder his running from his record, but he can run forever. we got you now. switch to mitch mcconnell for u.s. senate. host: those were from 1984.

kentucky was a democratic state. guest: yes, at that time it was very democratic. the brain behind the production of those went on to found fox news, but who had worked as a campaign consultant. senator mitch mcconnell had asked one of his aides to go with the incumbents voting record in his attendance record. they found that huddleston had made speeches for money on the same day he had missed votes in the senate. but it cited how they could use that -- they decided public use that in the ad. apparently the ad-maker said he saw hound dogs. they started to air those in the late summer 1984 and turned the tide. huddleston had begun with a huge lead and mitch mcconnell began

tightening the race and ultimately won by about 5000 votes. host: one of the lessons in any campaign is be prepared -- been prepared for an opponent. was huddleston badly prepared for mitch mcconnell? guest: yes, and i think you would acknowledge that. he had barely one jefferson county. -- barely won jefferson county. he was taken a little bit slightly. mitch mcconnell was from louisville, not always an asset. not to be from the big city in kentucky politics. he is not your typical back- slapping, stump orator-type of politician. host: you point out in the book that early in his career he made a couple mistakes. you read that he made his share

of mistakes in the first term. he blundered in 1985 by announcing that a large toyota plant was coming to kentucky when he had little to do with the project. it was not a terrific year. it had become painfully clear that he was not ready for the job and it would take considerable time for him to become an effective leader. guest: that is right. martha collins, a democratic who was at that time the governor of kentucky had much more to do with the toyota plans coming then senator mitch mcconnell did. he admits that he did over-reach trying to claim credit for that. he admits he was very much and repaired to become a senator. he had devoted himself nearly exclusively to winning the office and got very little about what being a senator was all about. to his credit, he set about steading that with the same discipline and focus of the

rest. of his rest since then he has become one of the most effective senators of this generation. host: we have been sharing conversations with authors of books out this summer. yesterday we introduced you to an author with a book out on barney frank. the phone lines are open. we have a caller from austin, texas. please turn down the volume on your set. caller: hi. i wanted to know a little bit more about your book. what made you write the book about him? guest: well, senator mcconnell has achieved a level of prominence rare for a kentucky senator. he is only the second to lead in the senate.

mitch mcconnell is also quite she and turning kentucky into a bonafide two-party state. it had long been a democratic- dominated state. also, most of kentucky's political history has been written from the liberal side of the deal logical perspective. i am a conservative. i thought it would be good to get political history out there from the right. also, always been a student of politics in government and i loved kentucky. this was a nice confluence of interests. host: a look back at some campaigns as written by john david dyche. the first is back to 1982 when bush was defeated.

guest: that is right. mitch mcconnell had to run for reelection in 1990 based on his clout and connections with the first president bush with whom he was very close, but by the time president bush was up for reelection the surge in popularity that of all the first iraq war had subsided. the country was turning its attention to domestic issues on which bill clinton was much more glib. mitch mcconnell had broken with bush on the read my lips, no new taxes' pledge. mitch mcconnell was against the tax increase that bush had supported. president bush was defeated. host: in two dozen for you write this.

-- in 2004. guest: in 2004, he had just been reelected in 2002, jim bunning, his senate colleague was up for reelection and was facing a tough re. the presidential race was going on at the same time with john kerry. his colleague was facing a really tough race. he decided that the weight jim was using tactics the best approach would be to use federal issues into the kentucky senate race and to link bunning's

opponent who is now running for the senate again in the race next year, to link him to john kerry. they did television ads late in the race linking him with kerry effectively. there was a gay marriage amendment on the state ballot at the time. the result was that bunning was able to hold on and win the election in 2004. mitch mcconnell has been the architect of several other races in kentucky, not only jim bunning's but also a house and government race. he helped to change the democratic tide.

republicans now compete seriously in nearly every race. host: our guest is john david dyche. we're joined from providence, rhode island by chris. caller: mitch mcconnell has some good positions such as keeping prayer in schools. but the eugenics' agenda and congress is to kill off the elderly -- this guy heading up, the up his a member of the hastings institute funded by the rockefeller foundation. it is made up of former members of the american eugenics society. they want to kill off the elderly abortion is a population reduction program. host: there is a lot of misinformation in the caller points, but it is part of the overall health care debate. guest: i will respond in two respects.

mitch mcconnell has been consistently pro-life throughout his political career. secondly, he is actively resisting the sort of drastic healthcare reform legislation the president obama and the democratic congress are pursuing. he favors [unintelligible] approach, would like to see it tort reform, individual health- care policy, the purchase cost being deductible the way group expenses are now deductible. he would like to see groups being able to band together to purchase health insurance. he would like to see the ability to buy health insurance across state lines. he is pro-life, always has been. he favors a more incremental approach to health care reform. host: there is this a view which says i think the gop picks the

most impulsive person to take the reins, such as the. they fly to get into office. guest: i'm not sure what lies she is referring to buy mitch mcconnell. he pretty much tells the truth about his positions even when they are unpopular. campaign finance reform, for example, is the issue with which is most closely identified. he has taken a ton of heat in both the kentucky media and the national media for his battles against so-called campaign finance reform legislation. he is pretty straightforward about it. it is the same way he is in raising money. he aggressively raises lots of campaign money and he is pretty open about it. i did not find him to be propulsive personality at all. he is very polite in his

debates in the senate, plays by the rules. fellow senators in both parties will tell you that his word is his bond because he knows it is the currency of successful legislative leadership. host: caller: good morning thank you. -- good morning. caller: first of all, let me tell you about the caller -- you should watch glenn? so you can answer these crazies. host: my job is not to respond to the callers, but if the misinformation is there i want to make sure viewers know it. caller: welcome getting to your guest there. you know, i do not know if you watched the first segment of this program this morning when you had the doctor on from

canada, but the doctor was very [unintelligible] and he is apparently an expert on canadian medicine and services. i guarantee that you can watch mitch mcconnell any morning when they open the senate, and i usually do, watch harry reid and them, and he tears right into the public option for health care. during that time -- if you don't believe it just go to canada. he goes on fox news and just sits there with some 40 doctors they got. the talk about how bad the canadian medicine is. now the question is, does mitch mcconnell no his absolute stone cold line cannot or does he just like all the time? which is it? anybody would know his line about that if he is watched --

if he watched the for cigna. does he purposely lied all the time? guest: no, i do not think his line and in those statements, but i congratulate the caller on noting one of his most important tactics since he has been republican leader. he does it use his speeches, often his morning business-type speeches on the senate floor to consistently address an issue. the first to did in this session of congress was the closure of guantanamo. he hit that hard, consistently over a long period of time, and i think have some effect. he is doing the same now on health care reform. i think his office would be happy to provide the caller with several instances of dissatisfaction in canada with the canadian health-care system. the public generally opposes, i

think, a canadian-style health care system. it is not to say is in all respects a terrible system which is not the point i think that senator mcconnell is making. i think his point is a little more subtle than that. it is that we can have a much better system than canada if we embark on a series of incremental reforms to address the problems of access and cost and do not do a radical, unnecessary complete overhaul of what he believes is a very good system. host: lend me ask you about him as a tactician. let me read from the book this --

guest: that is right. that was a very important speech senator mitch mcconnell made. it went largely unnoticed, but is significant. sometimes center mcconnell and anchors or upsets -- senator mitch mcconnell upsets a movement-type conservative who believes in purging anyone who does not toe a very rigid doctrinal line. senator mitch mcconnell looking at reality does not believe the republican party can succeed that way. he looks back ron reagan and sees a broader coalition. he has campaigned for liberal to

moderate republicans in pennsylvania, rhode island, and sometimes takes some heat for it. he is there every day trying to get enough votes and win enough seats to accomplish a generally conservative agenda. this is the way he sees it best to maximize his options. host: some background on a trip guess, a graduate of harvard law school, also a graduate of center college, the location of one of the previous vice- presidential debate. guest: that is right dick cheney and joe lieberman who debated there. it is a liberal arts college of about 1200 students. it had only a bell 750 when i went there. -- and only and only7 -- it only had about to 750 when i was

there. justice scalia, and many others have been awarded honorary degrees. host: it is a pretty part of the country. caller: good morning. i was interested to hear your presentation and background on the history of ideas and how the senator moved from a liberal family to become a conservative. i'm calling on the republican line, but would have to say i'm honestly a former republican. a lot of us move toward the republicans during the 1970's because the democrats at that point ransom very mediocre, and convincing candidate. there was the war on poverty, a mediocre time for democrat. i have moved since then. i am horrified by what many conservatives have done to this country in the last eight years. you ran back ad of mitch

mcconnell against his opponent with the blood hounds chasing him, saying to please run on your record. i'm just wondering, are neo- conservatives honest enough to run on the record of the last years, putting this country in debt over were based on lies, the geneva convention, gitmo? if we keep it open it should be to send the neo-cons there. guest: that ad was not sing to run on the richter. it was criticizing huddleston for not being present when the senate was doing business and instead being across the country collecting money for making speeches. just to clarify. host: in a word, going back to the 2004 campaign, how would you describe the relationship between bunning and mitch

mcconnell? guest: it is not good now primarily because senator mitch mcconnell made a cold, rational political calculation that senator bunning would not be the best republican candidate to keep the seat in 2010. center mitch mcconnell likes and respects him very much. he would be happy to have another republican who voted just likebunning in the sea, however bunning made a number of mistakes in the 2004 campaign. he had not raised the money liking needed to have done a. while mitch mcconnell respect him, his top objective was to win.

he put that loyalty ahead of personal lotis. -- he put that loyalty ahead of personal loyalties. that upset some people that he does not put personal loyalties above others. host: john david dyche will be with us until the top of the hour. reading, pa. is next. caller: good morning, how are you today? yesterday, i watched c-span for about 14 hours. wash the funeral of a giant of american politics -- i watched it a wonder, what mitch mcconnell has proposed? does he have any law? guest: senator mitch mcconnell and senator ted kennedy were

surprisingly close. senator mitch mcconnell admired him as a senator very much. he had invited kennedy to louisville to speak. mitch mcconnell's mentor had been a close personal friend with john f. kennedy, had served on the warren commission. in fact, when kennedy became president, one of the first dinners he had was with senator cooper. there was quite a close personal connection there. politically they could not be much more different. in terms of their personal characteristics they could not be much more different. senator mitch mcconnell is extremely sober. he is not the most gregarious of people. his very circumspect in his dealings.

they worked well together, though, because mitch mcconnell is the epitome thea senator. he recognized senator kennedy's effectiveness. host: good morning, florida. caller: i would like to have your guest addressed the nixon strategy with regard to the republican presence in the south now, which with the exception of nelson and landrieu is nearly completely republican, just as new england is nearly completely democrat. the bottom line is that the tale of kentucky being democratic we have to understand that for many years this out was pixie- =cratic, more conservative than

some republicans in the northeast. those in illinois were more moderate, even liberal compared to the dixie-crats in this out. also would dress, with regard to mitch mcconnell a helms, and the others -- -- if he would address it -- they want to have healthcare, but i have patients who are without medicine, without a roof over their heads. they are seen problem. for the most part they have waited for 70 years for a health care reform bill. these multi-millionaire senators who are in debt to the insurance companies and pharmaceutical companies want us to take time. they do not want someone to come between a patient and their doctor. host: i'll stop you there. there is a lot of information

there. guest: the question about the southern strategy is a good one. kentucky is pretty much a southern state, more accurately a border state. it was not a dixie-crat type of state. those were elected senators right as mitch mcconnell had moved to kentucky after having grown up in alabama and georgia. mitch mcconnell grew very pro- civil rights. his first internship with us with a very conservative rep, snyder. mitch mcconnell saba and w the h of martin luther king. he was instrumental in breaking a filibuster that democrats had mounted to hold up the civil-

rights act of 1964. he supported a similar piece of legislation as a student at the university of louisville. kentucky had its own civil rights statute that he was 4. he was personally present when president johnson signed the voting rights act of 1965. he was instrumental in working with democrats concerning the statue of rosa parks at the u.s. capitol. mitch mcconnell does not come from the southern strategy type of environment that has helped the republican party take over there. that is not his pedigree at all. again, on the health care situation, senator mitch mcconnell very much once productive changes in healthcare that would increase access and lower-cost.

he thinks that a massive bureaucratic change will do neither. host: this message from twitter -- why was there no gop proposal to reform health care in the past eight years? guest: that is a legitimate criticism. the presidenrepublicans did nots much as they should have. but the filibuster works both ways. he looked at the situation where president bush tried to reform social security after he was reelected in 2004. the entitlement is in serious trouble. he barnstormed the country in the republicans in the senate could not get a single democrat to work with them. the democrats made a calculation that they would block and blame. that is some defense of the republicans for not getting health care reform ben.

overall, though, i think that is a fair criticism. host: "republican leader: a political biography of senator mitch mcconnell" -- mitch mcconnell won in 2008 a record fifth term in kentucky. >> for too long, mitch mcconnell has been running away from his record, but now kentucky is closing in, bailing out wall street, tax breaks for big oil, it get him. we will ketchum. shipping jobs to china. voting with bush. no wonder mitch mcconnell is running from his record, but he cannot run forever. it is enough years in washington. it is time for change. >> but would they find it they will looking for bruce? will you be at his home in

florida? the 11 homes in six states. with a sniff out his record? virginia investigations showed huge fines by the veterans administration. after falling his trip, kentucky needs to stick with mitch. host: his margin of victory last year? guest: about 6% of bruce lunsford. lunsford was largely self-funded as he is a millionaire. the race tightened for a while as the economy when south, but lunsford like some and the others tried to run against mitch mcconnell in ways that did not make sense. no one has ever successfully made issues like campaign finance reform the turning point

in one of these senate races. supporting president bush, even though bush's popularity had declined, supporting president bush was not that much of a liability. senator mitch mcconnell had been extremely effective in bringing home federal project pork ky. citizens of kentucky thought he was doing a lot of good for the state. they wondered why to turn him not it now that he had achieved of an official status. it looked tight, but senator mitch mcconnell one more comfortably than the naysayers thought. host: the author is a lawyer. he is the author of this new book on mitch mcconnell. wendy is next from tax. caller: good morning.

i had a couple of questions. -- she is from texas. caller: i am a republican, but i am american first. you said that republicans tried to change healthcare, but republicans did not, but you did not stepped in and just do. did you spend a lot of time with the senator to write this book? guest: i did not say that democrats did not want lower costs. i said that senator mitch mcconnell believed the message by which democrats purport to be seeking lower-cost would not be effective. i do not think senator mitch mcconnell would challenge the good faith of democrats on that issue. yes, i spent a good bit of time with the senator.

i interviewed him several times, it came to washington a couple of times to observe him. i went to a university of louisville football game with them. that is one of his passions, especially when they are winning. he was very generous with his time. host: the napier freeze this from the book -- if someone hurdles pebble -- hurl a boulder back. that is one of senator mitch mcconnell maxims. so, if one of his opponents goes up early with a campaign ad, mitch mcconnell goes back with the massive early media buy to make sure his opponent was not on the airwaves alone are not in a way that would really move the

new. he definitely believes in an aggressive -- in aggressive campaign tactics. caller: hello. i was glad to hear that senator mitch mcconnell is per-live. -- pro-life. unfortunately, even though senator kennedy called himself a catholic, he was pro-abortion. he was really for eugenics and de population. i'm sure that you are aware that the amendment does not take care of the abortion issue in the health care reform bills. abortion must be explicitly covered, or the money will be used to fund abortion. my question is, i am wondering whether you know if the senator

has any plans to oppose the imminent to explicitly exclude abortion stacks -- any plans to oppose the amendment to explicitly exclude abortion? i think it is important to be pro-life and to make a stand. host: this e-mail arrived from of your at the same time. guest: it is really two separate questions whether the government should be funding abortion is one question, and while i have not asked senator mitch mcconnell specifically his position on the issue the caller raised, i would anticipate he would be where senators enzi and hatch are on that issue.

it is hard to find instances where he has varied from a thepro-life -- from the pro-like position. icoming in between a woman and her doctor come no, in most instances, but i believe he would look at each particular situation and not just go on cliche . that -- as far as coming in between a woman and her doctor, no. even though he has been consistent plely pro-life it has not figured prominently in his campaigns or careers. that is primarily because kentucky, although largely democratic, it is socially conservative. that position prevails in

kentucky for the most part out of the urinary. host: welcome to the program from the independent line in dallas. caller: thank you for c-span. see if the guest can confirm my memory. during the ross perot contract with america is days it was mitch mcconnell who got up and very much opposed the balanced budget amendment. i have learned by listening this morning that apparently senator mitch mcconnell is against campaign finance reform. would you confirm my memory and whether this is true, if mitch mcconnell is a candidate for term limits? guest: i cannot confirm your

recollection as to the balanced budget amendment. in fact, i think you are incorrect. senator mitch mcconnell does oppose what is popularly called campaign finance reform. he was the lead plaintiff in the case with the supreme court challenging the john mccain- feingold law. it was largely a unsuccessful, but he's keeping it up with some surprising allies. i will say this about the contract with america, however. senator mitch mcconnell was not a real gung-ho supporter of all aspects of the contract with america. in particular anything having to

do with term limits he opposes. he strongly opposes that. he thought the contract may have over-promised. he thought was a nice way to get attention, but an anti-clinton vote in 1994 that led to the republican takeover of congress. host: the next call in isjoe from lexington, ky -- the next call is joe. caller: did morning. john david, i was wondering if you would consider senator as more of a political animal, a beltway insider, or as someone who is merely representing the republican party on a national level? guest: a little bit of all.

he is very much a political animal, does not have a whole heck of a lot of outside interests other than politics. to some degree he is a beltway insider. he has been the president of the alfalfa club, rather elite washington group that meets once per year. he was married to a cabinet officer in the bush administration, secretary of labor elaine chao. you don't do that without being a washington insider to some degree. he is the quintessential republican. he thinks what is good for the republican party is generally what is good for the u.s. he is much more republican than a conservative, even though he is conservative and gets high numbers from the conservative rating group. he is more about the two-party

system, believes it is a good thing for the u.s. it is one reason he opposes some of the campaign finance reform measures. he thinks it hurts the two-party system. host: the next call is from california. caller: no one has mentioned that ron paul's son is running for the senate in kentucky. i have been a republican all my life, but i am a real republican. senator mitch mcconnell has been sold, bought and paid for by apac. he is a corporate hack the supported theneo-con war for israel. guest: if everyone had bought and paid for senator mitch mcconnell the people say, he would not be able to get up out of bed in the morning.

he is anything but bought and paid for by any group as best as i can tell. he is strongly supported by apac. he has been a strong and steadfast supporter of israel throughout his political career, but he had that position when he first began. it was not something anyone has purchased. yes, paul is running for the senate in kentucky. he is a very smart guy. he can raise a lot of money. i think senator mitch mcconnell just believe thatgrace who is also running prisons the best chance for republicans holding at sea. he has not endorsed -- for holding that seat. he never has endorsed, but he lets his preference been known in of the was. while i'm sure his very

impressed, i think he is making a cold political calculation. come the general collection, trey grason presents the best option to keep the seat. host: here is a message from twitter. guest: senator mitch mcconnell was instrumental in the expansion of medicare to the prescription drug benefit, but i think that you will also see in his career that the aspects of medicare he has most supported involve private insurance and competition. he was their and the expansion to include the prescription drug benefit. host: good morning, san antonio,

texas. caller: how cannot mr. john david dyche assume what someone else is thinking? in all his answers he is assuming what senator mitch mcconnell is thinking. guest: now what was the question? i have spent five years studying senator mitch mcconnell, have written a book about him, have looked at every piece of legislation he has ever been associated with, have learned as much about him as i could, and yes, and make some assumptions based on their research, upon his many public statements in which he sets forth his position on the issues, and i could be wrong, but i think have a pretty good basis for talking about mitch mcconnell. host: he began his career in

jefferson county. guest: his political career was their in louisville in 1977. he beat the incumbent county judge which is actually achieve executive of the county. he used another humorous ad in that race that had a former throwing a shovelful of lenore ride into the camera. that shocked some blue blood republicans there in louisville, but turned out to be extremely effective. he was reelected barely in 1981. from the moment he was truly running for the senate. now in 2009 he is the longest serving senator from either party in kentucky. caller: i was wondering if you are aware that the health-care packag